Books, TV, movies to look for in 2014

Bust out your 2014 calendar — dozens of political books, movies and TV shows are set to make a splash next year.

From memoirs by potential 2016 candidates to books digging deep into the biggest news stories of the last year, political junkies will find themselves with a wealth of options for reading material. And this golden era for politically themed TV shows and movies is set to continue next year, thanks to the return of shows such as “Veep” and the debut of the much-anticipated Mitt Romney documentary.

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Here’s POLITICO’s rundown of media offerings to look forward to in the new year:

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s as-yet-untitled new memoir will focus on American foreign policy using “a number of dramatic moments” such as the killing of Osama bin Laden and the Arab Spring “to frame her thoughts about the recent history of U.S. foreign policy and the urgent, ongoing need for American leadership in a changing world,” according to her publisher Simon & Schuster. The possible 2016 Democratic contender’s book is set to hit bookshelves in June.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald’s upcoming book, “No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State,” will provide an “in-depth look into the NSA scandal that has triggered a national debate over national security and information privacy,” according to the press release. Greenwald — who this year left The Guardian, where he first broke stories based off of Snowden’s leak, for a new media venture backed by Pierre Omidyar, the eBay founder — is set to offer up further revelations from the documents in the book. It will be published by Metropolitan Books in April 2014.

Ex-Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s book “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War” will be about “my more than four and a half years at war,” Gates writes in his introduction. He’ll tackle everything from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to his political wars with Congress, the presidents and their staffs, to the bureaucratic war with the Department of Defense. The book will go on sale Jan. 14 and the release from publisher Alfred A. Knopf promises an “unsparing, full accounting of his tenure” in both the Bush and Obama administrations.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has his own book lined up for 2014 that will be a “full and frank look at his public and private life — from his formative years in Queens, New York, his long record of fighting for justice and championing government reform, his commitment to public service, and his election and service as the 56th Governor of New York State.” The Democrat — who could make a run for the White House should Hillary Clinton decide not to — will also discuss the “many profound moments” of his first term such as signing the SAFE Act and same-sex marriage legislation, his publisher HarperCollins said in a press release.

Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis — whose 11-hour filibuster of an abortion bill this year catapulted her to superstar status among Democrats — is penning a memoir with Blue Rider Press of how she went from single mom to gubernatorial candidate. The untitled book is set for release in fall 2014.

New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman had been set to release his book “The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News—and Divided a Country” in May 2013. But even though it was delayed, that didn’t stop it from making a stir this year — after Ailes fired his PR exec Brian Lewis, sources pegged Lewis leaking to Sherman as a major reason for his ouster. The book will be out January 2014 and published by Random House.

The Blaze’s Dana Loesch, a conservative radio host and political commentator, takes aim at gun control in “Defenseless,” which will be published in September. Loesch will examine “the motivations of the political left to grab the guns of law-abiding citizens, leaving vulnerable millions of Americans, especially women,” her publisher, Center Street, said in a press release.

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a darling of the left who says she won’t primary Hillary Clinton, will release a still-untitled autobiography in spring 2014 that will detail her life story and “deliver a rousing call for protecting the middle class — the backbone of America — and building a stronger country,” according to publisher Henry Holt & Co.

Glenn Beck’s next book, tentatively titled “Controlling Education,” will be the follow-up to his New York Times bestseller, “Control: Exposing the Truth about Guns.” The book promises to pick apart the arguments about why schools are failing, and will be released by Threshold Editions on May 6.

Award-winning journalist Michael Hastings wrote a novel titled “The Last Magazine” before he died in a car accident in June 2013. The book, which Hastings is said to have been working on for years and is based on his life, will be out in summer 2014 from Blue Rider Press.

Conservative political commentator and author Michelle Malkin’s fifth book, tentatively called “Who Built That: The Tinkerpreneurs Who Built Everything From the Bottle Cap to Bridges,” will be released in the summer or fall of 2014 by Beck’s publishing house, Mercury Ink.

ABC “Good Morning America” co-host Robin Roberts is set to release a memoir chronicling her battle with myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare blood disorder, and her subsequent return to the GMA anchor desk. In the release announcing Grand Central Publishing acquired the book, Roberts said, “I am humbled that many have an interest, and draw strength from my on-going journey.” Roberts’s story will be out in April 2014.

The Boston Globe’s Scott Helman and Jenna Russell have written “Long Mile Home: Boston Under Attack, the City’s Courageous Recovery, and the Epic Hunt for Justice” to coincide with the first anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing. It will be released by Dutton in April 2014.

Several POLITICO reporters also have books out next year: Todd S. Purdum’s “An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Two Presidents, Two Parties, and the Battle for the Civil Rights Act of 1964” hits bookshelves in April from Henry Holt & Co., “HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton” by Jonathan Allen and The Hill’s Amie Parnes will be out in February and published by Crown, and Kenneth P. Vogel’s “Big Money: Big Egos, Bigger Stakes, and the Biggest New Game in Politics” is set for a June release from publisher PublicAffairs.

There are plenty of other media offerings in 2014 for those who prefer watching over reading. TV fans interested in the weird world of local government can catch the 100th episode of NBC’s much-loved comedy “Parks and Recreation” on Jan. 9.

And the pressure’s off: Your Valentine’s Day plans in 2014 are already set for a “House of Cards” season two binge watch when all 13 episodes will be unleashed on Netflix on Feb. 14.

In the spring, the year keeps getting better for political TV junkies: HBO has two very different politically themed shows returning, with the genius comedy “Veep” back for a 10-episode third season and “Game of Thrones” returning for a fourth season that will delve into the political machinations of its violent fictional world.

If you’re at the Sundance Film Festival, the Romney documentary “Mitt,” which provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Republican presidential nominee through his 2012 election loss, premieres on Jan. 17 — or you can just catch it streaming via Netflix on Jan. 24. Director Greg Whiteley said in a statement he “couldn’t believe I was filming inside rooms and situations I had no business being in” during the years he spent documenting Mitt and the Romney family starting in 2006.

At the movies, “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” will open on Jan. 17 and follows the Tom Clancy character — in an original story not based on the popular novels (Clancy, who died in October, wasn’t involved in the project but did receive a film credit — from 9/11 to his tour of duty in Afghanistan to his days as a young CIA analyst. The World War II film “The Monuments Men,” scheduled to be released on Feb. 7, is based on the true story of the Allied platoon charged with tracking down, protecting and returning art and cultural relics stolen by the Nazis during the war. George Clooney, who directed and also co-wrote the movie, stars in the comedy-drama alongside a powerhouse cast featuring Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett.

Meanwhile, D.C. itself takes a starring role on the big screen in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” out April 4, 2014. Marvel’s next big sequel uses some of Washington’s most iconic landmarks in the film, with scenes filmed on the National Mall, the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge and in Dupont Circle. While a number of productions set in D.C. are actually filmed elsewhere, “Captain America” appropriately made use of the striking locations in the nation’s capital when it filmed on-location in the District in 2013.